


It's Not Love I Swear

by moonace



Category: Julie and The Phantoms (TV)
Genre: 4+1, Canonical Character Death, F/M, JATP, M/M, Oblivious crush, Reggie Peters Has ADHD (Julie and The Phantoms), Reggie Peters Has Bad Parents (Julie and The Phantoms), Reggie is Bi, Sick Fic, Unrequited Love, blatant violation of lava lamp safety, i almost died twice while writing this, im sorry for hurting Reggie, not to mention all the times chloe almost killed me while i wrote this, suddenly
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-27
Updated: 2021-01-27
Packaged: 2021-03-13 12:55:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,297
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29029041
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/moonace/pseuds/moonace
Summary: Four times Reggie Peters was totally not in love, and one time that Luke Patterson definitely was.
Relationships: Alex Mercer & Reggie Peters (Julie and The Phantoms), Julie Molina/Luke Patterson, Luke Patterson/Reggie Peters (Julie and The Phantoms), Reggie Peters & Luke Patterson
Comments: 11
Kudos: 101





	It's Not Love I Swear

**Author's Note:**

> the title is from the song despair by leo. (i actually thought of the title before i thought of the fic lol)
> 
> but that song was the inspiration for this, and i highly recommend listening to it before reading!

I 

Reggie was 13 and he had just gotten his braces on. 

They hurt like hell, and even just resting his teeth together felt like getting punched. He was spending the night at Luke’s, but he couldn’t sleep. Between the pain in his mouth and the looming dread of having to go to school with braces, Reggie was wide awake. He wanted to distract himself from the misery, but Luke had fallen asleep an hour ago, so he was stuck wandering around his own mind. 

How was he supposed to be a rockstar if he was stuck with stupid braces! And to make matters worse, they gave him a lisp. He can’t sing with a lisp! _Oh no._ If he can’t sing, Luke might not want him in the band. And if he’s not in the band, he won’t be able to hang out with Luke. Everyone will call him “brace-face”, and he won’t have any friends. 

The spiraling emotions, mixed with the pain, was too much for Reggie to handle. He felt like his head was about to explode. 

“Reg? Are you crying?” Luke’s soft tired voice came from atop the bed. 

“No,” Reggie croaked. Luke gave no reply. Then came a sniffle and a tiny, “yeth.”

Two bleary eyes and a mess of brown hair peeked out from over the edge of the bed. “What’s wrong?”

“You’re gonna kick me out of the band.” Reggie choked back a sob. 

Luke’s eyes stayed half closed, but his eyebrow rose in confusion. “Why would I kick you out of the band?”

“Cauthe I have brathes.” The sob couldn’t be stopped this time. Reggie heard Luke sigh and saw his head disappear back onto the bed. 

“Come up here, Reg.” 

He slowly crawled onto Luke’s bed and lied down so that the two boys were face to face. Reggie could feel Luke’s gentle breath on his cheek; he wasn’t sure that they had ever been this close before. “I’m not gonna kick you out of the band.”

“But,” Reggie protested, “but I can’t thing with a lithp.” The tears in his eyes were threatening to spill over. 

“Reggie, the lisp will go away, in a few weeks. Remember when I had braces in third grade? I had a terrible lisp!” 

A little giggle couldn’t help but escape from Reggie as he remembered. 

“Yeah, yeah, I know, _hilarious_. But it went away after three weeks! You just have to get used to talking with all that metal in your mouth. It’ll be alright I promise.” 

Reggie was more comforted by Luke’s gaze than he was by what his friend was saying. 

“Now can we go to sleep please?” 

Reggie nodded, but tears were still welling up in his eyes. 

Luke sighed and wrinkled his brow. “Reggie why are you still crying? I told you I’m not going to kick you out of the band, I promise.”

“I know, it’s jutht,” Reggie started crying again, “my mouth hurths.” 

“How about you sleep up here with me tonight. It’ll be way more comfortable than the floor.” 

He nodded. Luke shifted to make more room, and Reggie curled up close to him. Warmth spread through him as he laid beside Luke. His breathing steadied, but his heart was still beating a million miles a minute. There was something about being this close to his best friend that made Reggie feel… safe? Is that what that feeling was? He wasn’t really sure, but he didn’t think about it for long because he was asleep a moment later. 

When Mrs. Patterson went to wake them up the next morning, she found Reggie curled into Luke’s chest, and Luke with his arm around him. 

II

Reggie was 15 and he had a fever. 

His parents were at work and he was home alone, lying in bed, suffering. As if the chills and the runny nose and the aching weren’t enough, Reggie was gonna have to miss rehearsal. He hated letting Luke down. Reggie could picture what Luke’s face would look like when he realizes he isn’t showing up- like a sad, kicked, adorable puppy-- _wait what_. 

Reggie was yanked from his thoughts by the sound of the window sliding open and someone tumbling in. He began to scream and throw whatever he could reach at the intruder. 

“Hey! Reggie, stop- stop it's me! Hey! Ow!” 

Reggie stopped, midthrow. Luke Patterson was standing in his room, as if his thoughts had summoned his friend to him. 

“A lava lamp?! Really?!”

Reggie looked at the object he had been about to chuck, then quickly set it down. “Sorry. But what are you doing here? You’re supposed to be at school.”

“I know, but you didn’t show up, and I was worried.” For a moment Luke looked sincere, but it was soon replaced by his usual mischievous smirk as he threw himself onto the foot of Reggie’s bed. “I thought you were playing hooky without me.” 

“Luke you shouldn’t be here.”

Luke flashed an exaggerated frown that turned into genuine concern when Reggie started having a coughing fit. “Bro, are you ok? You sound awful.” 

“Gee, thanks.” Reggie said, voice dripping with sarcasm and nose dripping with snot. “But I’m fine. It’s just a fever. I’m still contagious though, so you need to go or you’ll get sick too.” 

Jumping off the bed, Luke assumed the pose of a scolding mother, or as Reggie liked to call it, the _oh crap we pissed off Alex_ stance. “And leave you here all alone to die of boredom? Not happening. Now,” He clapped his hands together, “where do you keep the tissues?”

Reggie was about to protest again, but he remembered just how stubborn his friend could be. “In the bathroom.” 

Luke clicked his tongue and shot Reggie finger guns and a wink before bouncing out of the room. 

A few minutes later, Luke came back carrying an armful of items that he dumped onto the bed. Reggie stared at the pile, then at the grinning idiot standing over him. “Luke, what is all this?”

“Well,” Luke began grabbing stuff from the pile, “I got you some water because you need to stay hydrated. And some saltine crackers and bananas if you’re hungry, but also sour gummy worms because they’re your favorite. And I got some…” 

Reggie’s thoughts started to drown Luke out. Luke knew his favorite candy. He wasn’t sure why that meant so much to him. It wasn’t a big deal, but for some reason Reggie couldn’t stop thinking about it. 

“Reg? Reg? Reggie!”

Hearing his name snapped him back to reality. “Huh?”

“You good? You kinda zoned out on me.” Luke had that worried look on his face again, and all of a sudden Reggie forgot how to speak. 

“Y-yeah, uh,” he shook his head, focusing his thoughts. “Wait I thought you were getting tissues?”

“Well I looked in the bathroom like you said, but I couldn’t find any, so…” Luke triumphantly raised a roll of toilet paper in front of Reggie’s face, “ba-da!” He looked so proud of himself, and Reggie couldn’t help but smile, which in turn made Luke’s face light up even more. He set the toilet paper on the nightstand. “Alright, now scootch.”

“What?”

“Scootch!” he said again, then started to shove Reggie to the other side of the bed. Reggie flailed in shock and protest, but Luke just plopped himself down beside him. The bed was small, so the boy's shoulders were touching. 

As Luke started to go off about a new song he was writing, Reggie thought his fever must be breaking because he suddenly felt very warm. 

III

Reggie was 16 and he was struggling.

Luke had written a new song, and Reggie just couldn’t seem to get this one riff down. He had messed it up every single time during practice, and he had started to get frustrated.

“It’s alright, Reg,” Luke said as he packed up his guitar. “You’ll get the hang of it eventually! I’ll see you guys tomorrow. I’ve got to get home or my mom is gonna be pissed.” He rolled his eyes before bouncing out of the garage. 

“Pretty sure he forgot that I’m his ride.” Alex sighed and grabbed his bag, turning to say goodbye as he followed Luke outside. 

“Are you gonna hang around?” Bobby asked.

“Yeah, if it’s ok.” Reggie really wanted to keep practicing, and his parents had been in an argument all week, so it’s not like they would notice if he came home late. 

“Always.” Bobby set his guitar on it’s stand. “Well, I better head inside. Turn the lights off when you're done out here, ‘kay?”

Reggie nodded, but didn’t look up from his bass. He was gonna get this riff if it killed him. 

Time went a lot faster than he had realized, and when he finally looked up, Reggie noticed that it was dark outside. He looked at the clock. It was eleven. He had been practicing for four hours. _Four hours_ and he still couldn’t do the stupid riff! Reggie threw his bass onto the armchair and started kicking at the air and cursing himself under his breath. What was wrong with him? Why was this giving him such a hard time?

All of a sudden Reggie heard the door creak open and saw someone slowly backing into the garage. 

“Luke?”

The guitarist jumped out of his skin and spun around to face the source of the noise. He relaxed when he saw who it was. “Bro you scared the crap out of me.” 

“Dude what are you doing here?”

Luke threw himself onto the couch, letting out an exasperated sigh. “I got into a fight with my mom again. I just had to get out of there for a bit.” The room was quiet for a moment. “But why are you here?”

“Oh,” Reggie flopped down on the couch beside Luke, “I’ve just been working on that new song.”

Luke sat up. “Wait, have you been here practicing that one riff since rehearsal ended?”

Reggie hung his head and nodded glumly. 

Jumping off the couch, Luke turned to the defeated bassist. “Well maybe you just need a pair of fresh eyes. Show me what you’ve got, and I’ll see if I can help.” He picked up the bass and held it out towards Reggie. 

Reluctantly, he took the instrument, and as he grabbed it, the two boys' hands brushed against each other. Reggie’s heart skipped a beat. 

“I’ll count you in.”

He nodded as he positioned his hands on the bass. He took a deep breath, waiting for Luke to count him in.

“Two, three, four.”

Reggie began to play, hitting every note right… until he got to the riff. “Argh!” He threw his hands up to his face and groaned. “I can’t do this!”

“Hey, don’t worry. You’ve got this, I know you do.” Luke’s face was soft and sincere. He motioned for Reggie to take a deep breath. 

He tried the riff again, but the same thing happened. And the next time. And the next time. And the next time. Reggie threw the bass off his shoulder, and started kicking the armchair. He felt tears start to sting his eyes, so he turned away to keep Luke from seeing. “I’m so stupid. Why can’t I get this?”

“You’re not stupid, Reggie.” He placed a hand on his shoulder. 

Reggie pulled away, and immediately regretted it; Luke’s touch was always comforting, he was just overwhelmed at the moment. “Then why can’t I figure this out?”

“You’re thinking too much.”

Finally turning around, Reggie gave Luke a questioning look. His eyes were a little red, and his cheeks were wet. “What does that mean?”

“You’ve got to get out of your own head and start playing with your heart.” As he said this, Luke placed a hand on Reggie’s chest over where his heart was. 

Reggie found that he was having trouble breathing for a moment. He blinked rapidly. “How-” he squeaked, then cleared his throat. “How do I do that?”

Luke laughed and shook his head. “I can’t tell you how to do it. It’s gotta come from you. Put all your emotion into the music, and it’ll sound amazing because it’ll be you.” 

If he hadn’t just been crying, Reggie might’ve been moved to tears. He picked up his bass, and closed his eyes. _Play with your heart_. As he started to play, he thought. He thought about the first time he played the piano. About when Luke asked him to join the band. About hanging out with the boys on the beach. _About Luke’s hand on his chest_. He didn’t even realize he had gotten to the riff until Luke started whooping. 

“Yeah! That’s it!” He was jumping up and down. Luke ran over to Reggie and grabbed his shoulders, shaking him back and forth. “Reggie you did it! I told you you could do it!”

Reggie got over his initial shock and grabbed Luke’s arms. “I did it! Oh my god I did it! I did it!” 

The two boys started jumping up and down, spinning in a circle, laughing and shouting. 

They were interrupted by a sleepy voice. “Will you two. _Please_. Shut up.” Bobby was standing in the doorway, wearing a black tank top and pajama pants with little guitars on them. “It’s one in the morning. We have school tomorrow.”

Reggie and Luke stopped jumping, but kept a hold of each other. They glanced at the clock and then at Bobby. Eventually, Luke spoke up. 

“You sleep with socks on?”

Bobby’s face didn’t change, he just stared at the boys. “Get out of my garage.” Then he walked back towards the house. 

Luke looked at Reggie, and they broke out into laughter again. 

IIII

Reggie was 17 and he didn't know how to dance.

It was Junior Prom, and the gym was unrecognizable underneath all the decorations and lights. The DJ had announced the first slow dance, and there had been this nervous excitement as everyone went to find a partner. Almost everybody was on the dance floor, even Alex, but Reggie was leaning against the wall, watching. 

Staring at Luke. 

Luke had his arms wrapped around Becca Anderson’s waist, while her hands were resting around his neck. As they swayed back and forth to the music, they talked about something Reggie couldn’t hear, but it must’ve been funny because Luke had that certain smile on his face. Even from across the gym he could see the way Luke was looking at her- with that sparkle in his eyes. When Luke pulled Becca closer to him, Reggie decided he needed a break from the lights and the music.

He stepped into the hallway and took a few deep breaths. 

“Oh shoot, Luke! I don’t know how to dance.” Reggie had stopped half way through buttoning up his shirt to turn and blurt this out. 

Luke chuckled and continued getting dressed. “What are you talking about, Reg? You literally do it all the time on stage.” 

“No, but I mean with a girl! Like a slow dance!” 

Luke slipped on his tux vest, and turned to face his panicked friend. “Alright, come here.” He motioned for Reggie to come towards him. When he got to him, Luke positioned Reggie’s hands onto his waist, before wrapping his own arms around his neck. “So this is how you hold her,” Luke explained.

Reggie hoped he wasn’t blushing, but if he was it was definitely out of embarrassment and not because Luke was staring directly into his eyes as his arms were draped around his neck. 

Luke seemed to notice Reggie‘s stiffness. “Bro, relax. The next part is easy.” He began gently guiding Reggie, swaying to an unheard rhythm. “You just gotta move with the music, nothing fancy. You got it?”

He lingered. Reggie understood the instructions, but for some reason, he didn’t quite want this moment to end. The closeness was comforting. “Yeah, thanks.” Reggie said softly. 

“Of course!” Luke stepped away, continuing to get ready for the dance. “What kind of image would it set for our band if the bassist didn’t even know how to dance?” 

Reggie was suddenly pulled back to the present when he heard the gym doors swing open behind him. He turned to see Alex. 

“Hey, man. You good? You walked out of there kinda fast.”

“Yeah, I’m- the music was giving me a headache, I just needed to step out for a bit.” 

The hallway was quiet for a moment but for the muffled song coming from the gym. 

“You know you’ve never been a good liar, Reggie.” Alex didn’t sound accusatory, just concerned.

Reggie stuffed his hands in his pockets and shifted his gaze to his shoes. 

“Why weren’t you dancing?”

“I don’t know how,” Reggie lied.

“Reg,” Alex repeated softly, “why weren’t you dancing?”

This time Reggie didn’t answer. He didn’t want to say that it was because the only person he wanted to dance with had asked Becca Anderson instead. 

Sometimes he swears Alex can read his mind though, because he said, “It’s because of Luke… isn’t it.”

“I don’t know. Maybe?” Reggie shrugged. “I just- I can’t stop thinking about him, when we were getting ready, and he taught me how to slow dance, and how close we were. It felt nice.” He started to shuffle his feet, still not looking up. 

“Reggie… maybe-” Alex took a cautious step forwards, “maybe you’re gay?”

But Reggie wasn’t gay. He knew that. Because gay is like Alex. Gay means you like boys instead of girls, and Reggie liked girls! This was something different. This was- this was... well, Reggie didn’t know what this was, but it wasn't love. It couldn’t be love. Luke was his best friend, and he was not in love with his best friend. 

"I'm not in love with Luke!" Reggie shouted before turning and walking out of the building. 

Alex didn't follow him this time. 

As the cool night air hit him, Reggie tried not to think about how what he had just said was not at all an answer to Alex’s question. 

V

Luke was dead, but that didn’t stop him from living.

Reggie saw the way Luke bounced around the studio, bounced around the stage, bounced around Julie. It was like he had even more life in him than when he was alive. He liked seeing Luke like this. 

For a while before they had died, Reggie had noticed that Luke was a bit more somber. After things with his mom, that spark in him had faded ever so slightly, but enough for Reggie to notice. But ever since Julie pulled them from that dark room, Luke had more light in him than Reggie had ever seen. He couldn’t quite place why that was until he saw the way Luke looked at Julie when they sang together. Something about that angel-voiced girl relit that spark in him, and nothing was going to be able to put it out. 

So many things had happened since they died that Luke no longer occupied the majority of Reggie’s thoughts like he used to. 

That is until they were practicing for the garage gig at Julie’s house. Alex had just had a heartbreaking conversation with Willie, and they were trying to cheer him up when Reggie mentioned something about Julie. 

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Luke seemed bashful, which was a new look for him. 

“Come on. Everyone can see the way you look at her when you sing. You two ooze chemistry.”

Alex quickly chimed in. “You should never say ‘ooze’ again, but yeah,” he stood and faced Luke, “I agree.”

“‘Kay, no,” Luke slipped his guitar off his shoulder and set it down-- _things were getting serious now_ \--“I have chemistry with everybody that I sing with.” 

Reggie and Alex shared a look. The poor boy was in denial.

“Seriously! Watch.” Luke turned to Reggie and started singing the chorus of the song they would be performing that night. As he sang, he slowly walked closer. At first Reggie was amused at how hard Luke was trying to prove himself right, but as he got closer, amusement turned into something else. The way he was staring into Reggie’s eyes made his heart start to race. And when Luke placed a hand on the back of his neck and pulled him ever so slightly closer, Reggie was suddenly thirteen again, laying in Luke's bed, feeling the gentle breath on his face. They were standing so close. He found himself glancing down at Luke's lips for a second before locking eyes again.

“Great.” Luke softly sang the last word, keeping his gaze fixed on Reggie. 

He vaguely heard Alex say something about chemistry, but Reggie was too flustered to focus. The only thought that was crossing his mind at the moment was that Luke’s hand was still on the back of his neck. He knew he needed to say something, but his brain had decided to stop working, so he blurted out the first thing that came to mind. 

“That was pretty hot!” _That was pretty hot? Really?_ And then he was short circuiting again because Luke had just kissed his fingers and touched them to Reggie’s lips. He cleared his throat nervously and, stumbling over his words, said, “Girls, am I right?” But the smile Luke had when he responded made Reggie think _am I right?_

That night he watched Luke closely. The boy had it bad, pouting when Julie ignored his head nod, improvising a guitar solo to get her attention, breaking out into the biggest smile when she finally looked at him. And then there was the duet on the piano bench. With the way the two of them were staring at each other, Reggie was sure that for them the audience had melted away, leaving only the two of them on stage. 

He was happy for Luke, he was. But something inside of Reggie was keeping him from being all the way happy. 

Once again, Reggie didn’t have long to think about it because suddenly things had escalated, and they were fighting for their lives--well, their afterlives. They were stuck making a choice with no good outcomes- they would be stuck playing in Caleb’s band for eternity, cross over with no idea what’s on the other side, or cease to exist altogether. 

The boys had made the decision to try to complete their unfinished business in hopes of crossing over. They were finally gonna play the Orpheum. Reggie was going to go with whatever the boys wanted, but that didn’t stop him from having some doubts. He was worried about what would happen when they cross over. Alex and Luke were really the only family Reggie had, and the thought of being without him--wait, no, _them_ \--the thought of being without them was scary. 

The next thing Reggie knew they were being dragged to the Hollywood Ghost Club. And when Caleb said that playing there would allow the boys to all be together, he knew the comment was pointed at him. As much as he hated to admit it, Reggie knew he was right. Of all their options, this was the only one that guaranteed that Luke, Alex, and Reggie would stay together. It sounded enticing. So when Reggie got pulled on stage by Caleb’s magic, he wasn’t sure he minded. 

But then he saw Luke. 

He looked so uncomfortable, so scared. That’s all it took for Reggie to decide. He didn’t care what happened when he crossed over; he never wanted to see Luke like that ever again. He was going to do whatever it would take to get them back to the Orpheum. 

It took everything in him, but Reggie was finally able to break away from Caleb’s hold and poof back to Julie. Panic set in, however, when he noticed the guitarist wasn’t there yet. Then Luke started to flicker in and out, and Reggie played harder, channelling all his emotion into the music, just like Luke taught him to. 

Right before he finally burst onto the stage, Luke had looked at Julie, and Reggie knew that it was that glance that had brought Luke there. And he was relieved because Luke made it, and _they were finally playing the Orpheum_ , but at the same time, it stung Reggie a little that he wasn’t the reason Luke had pulled through. 

As the song came to an end, the boys shared a look. They weren’t going to cross over. They could feel it. Without even saying a word, the boys poofed back to the garage. 

Immediately after they arrived, they fell to the ground in pain and exhaustion. 

“It didn’t work.”

“Really Luke? I thought this was what crossing over feels like.”

“Not really in the mood for sarcasm right now, Alex.”

“Guys,” Reggie interrupted the bickering that was giving him a headache, not that it mattered much since his whole body was aching. “What are we gonna do?”

Silence fell over the room. 

Alex, ever the logical one, spoke first. “I mean, what can we do?” He shifted, propping himself up on his elbow. “Unless you want to go back t-“

“No!” Luke and Reggie shouted together. 

“Yeah, me neither.”

There was silence again. 

Surprisingly, it was Reggie who broke it. “So… so, what, our only option is to die? Again? Just like that?” 

No one answered. 

“It’s so unfair!” Reggie winced as they received another jolt. 

Once again, the boys all sat in the quiet, thinking about everything and nothing. If this was really going to be it, no more second chances, Reggie decided there was something he needed to say. 

“Luke, I-“

Before he could continue, they heard the sound of Julie talking to her dad and Carlos. 

“We should go. If Julie comes in here she’ll know we didn’t cross over.”

“And go where exactly? It’s not like there’s anywhere else we can go.”

They exchanged nervous glances. 

“She- she won’t come in here, right?” Reggie looked to Luke for an answer. 

“It’s been a long day, she’s gotta be exhausted. She’ll just go straight to bed.” He seemed nervous, and it made Reggie uneasy. Luke was normally so confident in everything he said. 

Alex opened his mouth to protest, when the doors to the garage began to swing open. The boys quickly dropped flat on their backs.

Julie’s voice rang out through the dark, still room. “I… I know I already said this, but, uh, thank you guys.”

Reggie couldn’t help himself. He had to say something. Julie had become like a little sister to him and he couldn’t stand to let her leave without saying goodbye. “You’re welcome.”

“Dude!” Luke sighed, and Alex just groaned. 

Julie rushed to turn on the lights. “Why…” She sounded distraught. “Why are you here? I… I thought…”

Another jolt hit, and the cacophony of pained groans interrupted Julie. 

“No… no…” She moved forward, tears forming in her eyes. “I thought you crossed over. Why didn’t you cross over?”

The boys struggled to sit up, leaning on various furniture for support. 

“I guess playing the Orpheum wasn’t our unfinished business,” Alex grumbled. 

Hanging onto the side of the armchair, Reggie added sarcastically, “Point Caleb.” 

“We wanted you to think that we crossed over, so we pretended to.” Luke sat crisscrossed in front of the piano, looking the worst of all of them. Reggie knew that he had had to fight the hardest to get away. Caleb controlled people through music, and since music was the most important thing to him, the hold on Luke had been so much stronger. “We just… we had nowhere else to go.”

“We thought you’d go straight to bed.”

“Yeah, well,” Alex pulled himself to his feet, “I knew she was gonna come out here, but nobody ever listens to me-” His words cut off as he doubled over in pain from another jolt. They were getting much worse.

Julie began running to the boys, pleading to each of them. “You have to save yourselves right now. Go join Caleb’s club. Please. It's better than not existing at all. Please just go. Go! Poof out! Do something! Please. Do it for me. Please.” 

They all struggled to their feet. Reggie sat on the arm of the chair, shaking his head. “We’re not going back there.” He remembered how Luke had looked on that stage. 

Luke walked shakily towards Julie, closing the space between them. “No music is worth making, Julie, if we’re not making it with you. No regrets.” He said the last part in a more hushed voice, like it was some sort of secret only the two of them knew about. 

Julie must’ve forgotten that he was a ghost because she threw her arms around Luke’s neck. But to Reggie’s surprise, she didn’t go right through him. He wrapped his arms around her in return. 

Julie and Luke were closer than they had ever been, but Reggie never felt so far away. For a moment, it reminded him of prom. 

But when she said “I love you guys,” Reggie felt a little comfort return to his heart. Julie wasn’t Becca Anderson. Julie was special. 

When the two broke from their hug, Luke had a soft glow. Everyone stared at him in confusion until Julie spoke. 

“How can I feel you?”

“I… I-I don’t know.” 

Julie reached up and placed her hands on Luke’s face, and he reciprocated, wiping the tears off her cheek. Then he reached up and gently took her hands, holding them close to his chest like they were a treasure he was afraid of losing. He looked back at Reggie and Alex, confusion etched on his face.

“I feel stronger.” 

“Alex, Reggie, come.” 

Reggie painfully stood up, and hobbled over to them, not hesitating to join the hug. As soon as they all squeezed together, he could feel warmth and energy rushing back into him. They stayed like that, huddled together, for a moment. When they all pulled back, Reggie was baffled. “I… I… I don’t feel as weak anymore.”

“Yeah, me neither,” Alex agreed. “Not that, you know, I was ever that weak.” 

Everyone chuckled. Without warning, a sudden, tingling feeling came from Reggie’s wrist. Apparently the others felt it two, because all the boys put their arms out. Caleb’s stamp was glowing. Before Reggie could say something about that not being a good sign, the purple logo of the Hollywood Ghost Club floated up into the air and faded into nothing. 

“What do you think that means?” Julie asked, still looking up at where the marks had just disappeared. 

The boys glanced at each other, and Reggie knew that they were feeling the same weightlessness that he was. They were free. 

“I think the band is back.” Luke was looking at Julie like she was a constellation, shining bright against the night sky.

Reggie’s smile faltered a little.

“You guys think we could try that hug thing one more time?” Alex offered up softly. 

“Yeah!” Reggie nodded as they squeezed back into the embrace. He pulled back slightly to speak. “I like this,” he said with a smile. 

“Me too.” Julie pulled him back into the hug, patting Alex and Reggie on the back. “We played the Orpheum!” 

They all began jumping up and down, spinning in a circle, never letting go of one another. Reggie looked at each of his bandmates, his family. 

They were going to be ok. 

So then why did his chest still feel like it was aching?

Reggie Peters totally wasn’t in love, but his heart was still breaking like he was.

**Author's Note:**

> this is the longest fic i’ve ever written and im kinda really proud of it. 
> 
> also to anyone who's thinking i'm an idiot who doesn't know how roman numerals work- the actual roman numeral for four isn't iv, your teachers lied to you. 
> 
> now i'm about to get sappy as hell, so read at your own risk. 
> 
> i could not have written this without Chloe (@willexx on tumblr), so if you liked the fic than thank her! she would jump on the doc with me at a moment’s notice. one time she even ditched english to help me brainstorm. she has helped me with all my dumb spelling errors and encouraged me through this whole thing. she gave me inspiration and made sure i didn't give up. Chloe, if you ever decide to write a fic i’ll be there to laugh at you when you drink mold and make sure you don't use “suddenly” nine times in one fic :) thank you so much! i love you so mountain!


End file.
